Climate Anxiety: We Live in Frightening Times
气候焦虑：我们生活在一个可怕的时代
When psychologists warn that global heating could cause trauma to become normalized, world leaders should take notice.
当心理学家警告说全球变暖可能导致心理创伤正常化时，世界各国领导人应该引起注意了。
"Disasters on the scale of Australia’s recent bush fires and Indonesia’s floods can be expected to produce severe mental as well as physical reactions, particularly in children and other vulnerable groups."
“澳大利亚最近发生的森林大火和印度尼西亚的洪水等灾难，预计会对人的身心产生严重的影响，尤其是儿童和其他弱势群体。”
“It makes sense” is the first thing to say about the phenomenon being described by psychologists as climate anxiety. Wherever in the world you live, there are very good reasons to feel anxious about the rate of global heating and the lack of adequate action to tackle it by governments, businesses and organizations of all sorts.
对于心理学家称之为气候焦虑的现象，首先要说的是“这是有道理”。无论你生活在世界上的哪个地方，都有充分的理由对全球变暖的速度以及政府、企业和各种组织远远不够的应对行动感到焦虑。
The predicted consequences are frightening: hotter weather in already inhospitable places, sea-level rises caused by melting ice sheets, and increased disruption of weather systems leading to floods, fires, hurricanes, food and water shortages – with the linked biodiversity crisis another cause for grave concern.
我们所预知的后果是可怕的：本已不适宜居住的地方天气更热，冰原融化导致海平面上升，天气系统的破坏加剧，导致洪水、火灾、飓风、粮食和水资源短缺，与此相关的生物多样性危机是另一个令人严重担忧的原因。
Depending on the steps that are taken (or not) over the next decade, a period during which the UN estimates that carbon emissions need to be cut by 7.6% annually if we are to avoid temperature rises above 1.5C, the disruption caused to human societies could be immense. For countries such as Bangladesh, the effects are likely to be devastating.
联合国估计，如果我们在未来十年要避免气温上升超过1.5摄氏度，碳排放量需要每年减少7.6%，取决于我们在这一时期采取（或不采取）的措施，这对人类社会造成的破坏可能是巨大的。对孟加拉国等国来说，其影响可能是毁灭性的。
Given all this, it arguably makes more sense to be anxious than not. And climate anxiety is one way of describing the motivations of every person or organization that is trying to do something to limit or to mitigate the effects of global heating – whether an individual altering their diet, a charity switching energy supplier, a council setting emissions targets or the Guardian deciding to stop selling advertising space to fossil fuel companies.
考虑到这一切，可以说焦虑比不焦虑更有意义。气候焦虑症是描述每一个人或组织试图采取措施来限制或减轻全球变暖影响的一种方式，无论是个人改变饮食习惯，还是慈善机构转换能源供应商，议会制定减排目标又或是卫报决定停止向化石燃料公司出售广告空间。
But, as with all negative emotions, the trick is to distinguish ordinary feelings – what Sigmund Freud famously called “common unhappiness” – from those that are disproportionate, or so intense and prolonged as to be debilitating.
但是，就像所有的负面情绪一样，诀窍在于将普通的情感——西格蒙德·弗洛伊德（Sigmund Freud）称之为“普通的不快乐”——与那些不成比例的、或如此强烈和持续到让人衰弱的不快乐区分开来。
While it makes sense to be worried about the climate emergency, becoming overwhelmed is counterproductive. The sound advice from psychologists that actions, however small, can help to alleviate feelings of distress and powerlessness echoes the experiences of activists including Jane Fonda that “the minute you start doing something, the depression goes away”.
虽然担心气候紧急情况是有道理的，但变得不知所措反而适得其反。心理学家提出的合理建议是，无论行动多么微小，都可以帮助缓解痛苦和无力感，这与包括简·方达在内的活动家的经历相呼应，“一旦你开始做某件事，抑郁就会消失”。
Not all low moods are readily lifted, however, and warnings of worsening mental health as a result of climate disruptions and hardships should be taken seriously.
然而，并不是所有的低落情绪都能轻易解除，而气候变化和艰苦环境导致精神健康恶化的警告应该被严肃对待。
Already there is cause for concern, with research showing that people who have experienced extreme weather such as floods in the UK are 50% more likely to suffer from problems including depression. Resilience may be a desirable quality, but is much more easily developed by those who are cushioned by income or advantage.
我们已经发现了引起了人们的担忧的原因，研究显示，在英国经历过洪水等极端天气的人患抑郁症等问题的可能性要高出50%。韧性也许是一种可取的品质，但一般是那些被高收入和自身优势所安慰的人才能培养出这种品质。
Growing demand for psychological support should be met by professionals who are able to distinguish everyday worries from post-traumatic stress or other symptoms. Disasters on the scale of Australia’s recent bush fires and Indonesia’s floods can be expected to produce severe mental as well as physical reactions, particularly in children and other vulnerable groups.
越来越多的心理支持需求应该由能够区分日常忧虑和创伤后压力或其他症状的专业人士来满足。澳大利亚最近发生的森林大火和印度尼西亚的洪水等大规模的灾害预计会在精神和身体上产生严重的反应，特别是儿童和其他弱势群体。
In some parts of the world, trauma is already normalized, and when psychologists write of their fear that it could become ubiquitous, policymakers everywhere should take notice.
在世界的一些地方，创伤已经正常化了，当心理学家写到他们担心创伤可能无处不在时，各地的决策者都应该引起注意了。
But it’s important to remember that there are reasons to hope, as well as despair. As the environmental scientist Vaclav Smil said last year, “We [humans] are stupid, we are negligent, we are tardy. But on the other hand, we are adaptable, we are smart and even as things are falling apart, we are trying to stitch them together”.
但重要的是要记住，希望和绝望都是有原因的。正如环境科学家瓦茨拉夫·斯米尔去年所说，“我们（人类）愚蠢，我们疏忽大意，我们行动迟缓。但另一方面，我们适应能力强，我们很聪明，即使事情正在分崩离析，我们也在努力将它们缝合在一起”。
（来源：Guardian）
